


the way it used to be (now it's all wrong)

by Anonymous



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Allusions to death, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Ghosts, M/M, Sort Of, kind of?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:48:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27977631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: The music started, haunting notes floating through the air, and then there he was - sitting at the piano, ghostly fingers flying over the keys.
Relationships: Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Lee Chan | Dino
Kudos: 9
Collections: Anonymous





	the way it used to be (now it's all wrong)

Seungcheol stumbled blindly through the dark hallway, arms stretched out in front before finding his way out onto the grand staircase’s landing, white marble bathed in blue light filtering through the lead paned windows.

Whatever had woken him up wasn’t yet evident to him, but as he quietly made his way to the top of the cold stairs, he had a feeling he’d find out.

Violent shivers wracking his body, he carefully placed his foot on the stair, slowly making his way down them.

Then the music started. Soft, haunting, familiar melodic notes floated through the air, and Seungcheol couldn’t help but shut his eyes at the onslaught of memories that it brought with it. 

_ A boy with a bright smile, directed at Seungcheol as he sang the tune out loud in the afternoon sun, weaving together the wildflowers. _

_ The same boy, grown up a bit more, staring intently at the book in front of him, pale winter light backlighting him as Seungcheol watched on fondly. _

_ The boy, stumbling across the ballroom floor with Seungcheol in his arms, head tipped back laughing as Seungcheol stepped on his foot again. _

_ The boy, and all of the warm emotions that came with seeing him. _

_ The smile that rose onto his face when he looked at Seungcheol. _

_ The boy, dancing. _

_ The boy, singing. _

_ The boy, smiling. _

Seungcheol opened his eyes.

And there, in front of him, was the boy, sitting at the grand piano tucked into the corner, fingers flying over the keys as he plucked the notes out. He wasn’t quite there, looking more like a memory than anything, with his ghostlike features, but Seungcheol would recognize him anywhere.

“Chan,” he breathed out, heart swelling with emotion.

He stepped forwards towards him, and Chan stood up from the piano as well, the music continuing even without its player. They met halfway, Seungcheol reaching a cold hand up to caress the younger boy’s face softly. Chan closed his eyes and leaned into the touch.

“Chan, I…” Seungcheol trailed off, tears coming to his eyes. Chan just looked up at him, shaking his head softly, before putting his arms around his waist and beginning to waltz with Seungcheol through the foyer of the manor. Just like they used to.

Seungcheol found it hard not to feel himself slip into his old patterns from back when Chan was still with him, dancing carefully as Chan placed his feet delicately but with purpose around his.

Spinning out, Seungcheol looked around the dark, empty foyer, but it was empty no more. More people had appeared, all with the same pale, translucent quality as Chan, dancing and laughing silently along with the haunting music. 

Jisoo, being dipped by Hansol; Seokmin and Jeonghan, laughing together; Mingyu spinning Minghao around him; Jihoon, Junhui, Soonyoung, more and more and more of their friends appearing, ones that Seungcheol was so sure he’d never see again, let alone smiling, but there they were.

Chan brought him back close to his chest, continuing to lead him meticulously through the piece that they used to do together, before everything had gone wrong. Before Seungcheol realized that he’d never see Chan’s smile again. 

Seungcheol let himself lose himself to the music, knowing that Chan - or this ghostly echo of him, at least - would take care of him just the same way as Chan back then would have.

The dance ended, but the music continued, just the same way as it used to. Seungcheol stepped away from Chan, feeling the cold of the large manor envelop him once again, now that he was out of his embrace.

He gazed at Chan, a bittersweet look in his eyes.

“You’re just as beautiful as I remembered you to be,” he said quietly, a sad smile on his face. Chan looked on at him, smiling softly.

Then it happened.

The song deviated from how it usually went - major chords becoming minor, sharps where there should be smooth harmonies, throwing Seungcheol’s mind into a disarray - this wasn’t how the song was meant to be.

The song was meant to be happy, joyous,  _ free _ \- it was supposed to be what their relationship was, if it could be put into musical form. Kind. Uplifting.  _ Happy _ .

Not this. This, this sounded more like a daydream gone wrong. A nightmare, but one that Seungcheol didn’t know how to wake up from. 

Sharply turning in a circle, looking to see if anyone else noticed, Seungcheol watched on as his friends movements started to change. Something looked - off. Movements becoming sharper, quicker, not soft and warm as they should have been.

He turned back to Chan - and sucked in a harsh breath when he saw his face. Big, wide, fearful eyes, glassy with unshed tears, the same eyes as he had turned onto Seungcheol in his last memory of him. But his smile was still there - not that it could be called one anymore. 

Too many teeth, light blue in the night light, glinted sharply from his mouth, and he looked— Seungcheol jerked, stepping back into the center of the foyer.

He looked predatory. Scary. 

Seungcheol couldn’t recall a moment where he had looked like that before.

“C-Chan?” He stuttered out, the cold seeming to come to him faster as the music became more and more disjointed, swelling.

Catching movement in the corner of his eye, he saw his friends - the ones that he remembered to be happy, dancing and laughing their ways through their lives before they were abruptly cut short - gathering around him. Watching him, eyes cold. Mouths twisted into snarls.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this, Seungcheol thought desperately. How could they— they weren’t supposed to  _ know _ .

He turned back to Chan, panicking. But that wouldn’t help, not with his eyes  _ mocking _ him with what he used to be. Used to be, before Seungcheol had forced Chan to change, to leave this earth, to become something else, something violent, something  _ gone _ .

Seungcheol looked around, eyes flitting about the room for any way out, a way away from here,  _ anything _ .

But it didn’t matter. 

Nothing could stop karma, after all.

As the music crescendoed, the echos around him swelled, their eyes shining wildly, before they descended upon him.

And there was no one left to hear his screams.

**Author's Note:**

> well.
> 
> i told myself i was going to write my essay last night, and instead this happened. so yeah.
> 
> if you liked this, leave a comment maybe please 👉👈 and yeah! thanks for reading!


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